PHRI Bali urges a permit solution for villas built in green-belt areas

In brief: On 30 September 2026, the Bali chapter of the Indonesian Hotel and Restaurant Association (PHRI) called for a simpler way to address permits for villas already built in designated green-belt areas. No general legalisation scheme was announced: the request still requires consideration by the relevant authorities.

The appeal came from PHRI Bali deputy chairman I Gusti Agung Ngurah Rai Suryawijaya as the association examined why tourism properties were being offered for sale. He described accommodation whose owners face licensing difficulties because the land is subject to restrictions on development. The issue can be particularly consequential for anyone buying a villa on the assumption that an existing building must be legal.

An operating property may still have a land-use problem

According to Suryawijaya, some owners or operators have leased plots from local residents and constructed visitor accommodation in areas classified as *jalur hijau*, or green belt. The structure may already exist, but its location can prevent the owner from obtaining all the necessary permissions. PHRI said permit difficulties were one reason some villas had entered the resale market, alongside ordinary commercial decisions by owners.

Marketing accommodation is another part of the problem. Suryawijaya said properties advertised through online booking agencies, including Airbnb, must meet licensing requirements and have a local taxpayer identification number, known as NPWPD. That registration concerns local taxes; it is not evidence that a building complies with zoning controls. Nor do the reports establish how many villas on Bali face this particular conflict.

PHRI is asking local government to consider planning changes

The association's suggestion is directed at villas already standing in green-belt locations, especially pockets now surrounded by other development. Suryawijaya proposed examining the detailed spatial plans known as RDTR and finding a regulated way to deal with existing buildings. He did not announce a permit exemption or a newly enacted rule.

Bali's provincial spatial-planning portal, TARUBALI, identifies both provincial and regency or city-level land-use plans. Badung, for example, has an adopted regional plan dating from 2025. The portal stresses that its maps and summaries are informational: legally consequential decisions need to rely on the applicable official planning documents for the particular site. Any change to those plans is a government process, not something an owner or industry association can implement by declaration.

PHRI also urged officials to study the island's tourism carrying capacity and consider a pause in further accommodation development. The three-to-five-year period discussed by Suryawijaya related to reviewing and reorganising the broader sector. It was not an approved amnesty window for existing villas, and the reporting did not identify an effective date for easier permitting.

What a prospective buyer needs to establish

A villa's current bookings, rental income or online listing may show commercial activity, yet none resolves whether its land may lawfully be used for that purpose. A purchaser needs to distinguish the rights held over the plot from permissions covering the building and the accommodation business. Where an owner says the paperwork can be completed later, the possibility of doing so under the current zoning needs independent confirmation before a commitment is made.

The same caution applies to people who already own or operate accommodation on potentially restricted land. PHRI has brought the issue into a public discussion, but the association's proposal gives no immediate assurance that an existing villa can continue operating or be regularised. Outcomes will depend on the property's actual location, the applicable plans and decisions made by the competent local authorities.

• Bali Post, “Soroti Banyaknya Akomodasi Wisata Dijual, PHRI Bali Sebut Sejumlah Faktor Ini Pemicunya” — 30 September 2026.
• The Bali Observer, “PHRI Bali urges simpler permits for villas built in green-belt areas” — 1 October 2026.
• Bali Provincial Government, TARUBALI spatial-planning portal, “RTRW & RDTR Provinsi Bali” — information updated to 24 September 2026.